Lawbringer and Raider mains | Forums

[ParadigmFringe]

step up your feint game and you won't have reason to complain anymore. i main conq, LB, and Raider. well... okay, they're the ONLY characters i play, but to really shine with any of them, you gotta be a champion feintsmith.

[Kharneth88]

Raider. Would you elaborate on when to feint. What to do with the feint. And against whom should the feints be done in such a way. If so, thanks!

[ParadigmFringe]

Raider. Would you elaborate on when to feint. What to do with the feint. And against whom should the feints be done in such a way. If so, thanks!

Raider is great for feints because he has the heavyx3 and the H-L-H combos, and any combo can end with his unblockable. all of those heavies and his unblockable can be feinted.

now, when it comes to mind games, there is no one particular strategy, so you have to mix up your feints just like you would your combos.
light at a distance (intentional whiff) > UnblockabFEINT > light string is a great way to bait a parry and punish the following heavy.

heavy > heavFEINT > into Guardbreak is effective against people who don't parry or stop parrying after that first option hits a few times.

HeavFEINT > sidestep pommel bash

and the raider has so many heavies in his combos so he can branch out of his basic combos easily and in many different ways. i feinted from time to time before this last week and didn't think much of it, but i've become feint-heavy in the last week and it has improved my win rate immensely. (for the record, conq feint is actually cancelling a heavy with his super-guard, which works, but is more stamina draining than regular feints)

[Kharneth88]

Half the time I feint I get hit in the face or guard broken. Or I'll feint into an attack but get hit anyone because people are way faster. Specifically thinking about feinting into pommel strike on a nobushi. This is why I asked for how these are done against specific classes. It seems that when I do a heavy feint against nobushi, her reaction is just to attack me with a light attack because she doesn't need to parry. This puts me in a bad spot because her lights are hard enough to block.

I know mind games, but I was hoping there would be some standard things you do before you begin mixing it up. Do you not often start new fights with the same few strategies?

Light whiff > zoning feint > light string.

I'll try to keep this in mind. Are there classes I shouldn't use this against? Feinting doesn't seem to affect Peacekeepers, all it does is provoke a light attack from them. I must be unlucky or something, but hardly anyone ever tries to parry my unblockable, they either interrupt me or get hit in the face.

heavy > heavy feint > guard break. I know that this should be effective, but it's never worked for me. I haven't tried it enough, though, mostly because I usually get hit. But again, I think it's because I don't see as many parriers as you. They respond to my heavy attacks with their own light attacks and so the guard break doesn't work.

heavy feint > sidestep pommel

Any reason why you do the sidestep instead of just a regular heavy feint to pommel? I could see the sidestep being useful against the parry, but I often get hit during the dodge unless it's from above. Am I dodging poorly on the Raider or does he have a hard time dodging side attacks?\

I've found success with parrying often with the Raider, especially against some of the slower attacks/classes like Kensei, Warden sides, Shugoki (once I get the timing down!), other raiders, etc. but I haven't done enough feinting. I'll try to incorporate it more often over the weekend and I'll keep a close eye on what the enemy's do in response to the feints. The quicker classes give me the most issue (PK, Oroch, Nob) and feinting against them seems to put me in even more trouble.

I don't want to sound like I'm discounting your advice. I'm just trying to explain why it hasn't worked for me in the hopes that you'll be able to figure out what I've been doing wrong.

[ParadigmFringe]

you don't want to be opening with feints in close range. what you want to be trying to do is throw these whiff>feint>new string combos in at the absolute limit of your weapon, so that if they decide to spam lights, or counter with a well-timed heavy you're not getting immediately stuffed. the strategy is to plan to end your feints within range to land one of your faster moves or strings, and JUST at that range.

upping your feint game has as much to do with spacing as it does to knowing which combo to feint into.

if you happen to be playing on xbone, i will gladly waste as many hours of my life sparring with you in custom as you so desire. custom sparring with good players ( i like to invite people to private matches if they leave too soon) is some of the most fun i've had in this game, and if you play enough against a good player who also wants to learn, you both end up improving.

[Kharneth88]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense then, except for against the Nobushi. Learning the spacing just comes with time playing a class.

I play on PS4 but have plenty of very good players on my friends list who I play with often. I'll see if any of them would be interested in sparring. I've got a rl buddy who I train with from time to time. Appreciate the offer, though.

I wish there was a level 0 bot that wouldn't walk straight up in your face. Some stationary practice dummy that could be used for getting used to attack's distances would be really nice. I wonder if level 0 bots in custom matches do the same thing as the How To Play PK.

[ParadigmFringe]

"I know mind games, but I was hoping there would be some standard things you do before you begin mixing it up. Do you not often start new fights with the same few strategies?"

went off on a tangent and didn't address this. also, the light whiff > heavFEINT is a Lawbringer thing. Raider is heavy light heavFEINT or heavy heavFEINT.

i start my feint strings sooner against faster characters due to their dash-ins and general ability to close the distance. i will normally start my brawls and duels turtling just to see how aggressive they are. if they're less aggressive i know i can start my strings a little closer.

heavy characters i like to let the heavies fly unless they prove themselves adept at parrying right away. that way i can heavy into their guard, then feint the second or third combo hit and at that point i'm close enough to either GB or basic pommel strike off a heavy cancel.

in either situation, EXPECT your opponent to adapt and mix up the feint game with regular kit to keep em reeling.

[ParadigmFringe]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense then, except for against the Nobushi. Learning the spacing just comes with time playing a class.

I play on PS4 but have plenty of very good players on my friends list who I play with often. I'll see if any of them would be interested in sparring. I've got a rl buddy who I train with from time to time. Appreciate the offer, though.

I wish there was a level 0 bot that wouldn't walk straight up in your face. Some stationary practice dummy that could be used for getting used to attack's distances would be really nice. I wonder if level 0 bots in custom matches do the same thing as the How To Play PK.

i THINK you can do the "basic training" tutorial and just not hold Circle to progress the tutorial when you're fighting the dummies. i'm at work or i'd check for you.

[Kharneth88]

Oh, duh, I forgot to do the training with the Raider! I should've done that. I though basic was only warden, can you pick your class for basic training? I've never done it except for the first time, but I usually do advanced training for new characters.

I think I'll just experiment with feinting more. I've had no success with it against the faster characters, but the more I experiment the more I'll see what works and doesn't work for the enemies I am fighting. It might sound dumb, but I do think there are differences in the play styles of the average person from console to console.

[ParadigmFringe]

Oh, duh, I forgot to do the training with the Raider! I should've done that. I though basic was only warden, can you pick your class for basic training? I've never done it except for the first time, but I usually do advanced training for new characters.

I think I'll just experiment with feinting more. I've had no success with it against the faster characters, but the more I experiment the more I'll see what works and doesn't work for the enemies I am fighting. It might sound dumb, but I do think there are differences in the play styles of the average person from console to console.

1)yes you can do the basic tutorial with the other characters. 2)completely agree that the meta and general gameplay styles will have variances across the three different communities. just gotta keep mixing it up until something works!